Psychiatry Services
Children’s Mercy provides evaluation and treatment for children and adolescents with behavioral, emotional and developmental disorders. We primarily serve children who are already receiving care for other health conditions in one of our hospitals or outpatient clinics.
Our team of board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners work with families at several Children’s Mercy locations as well as through telehealth visits. Child psychiatrists are also part of the care teams at our Eating Disorder Center, Tourette Syndrome Center and Operation Breakthrough Clinic.
We also provide consultations to community physicians, nurse practitioners and other health professionals who are caring for children with psychiatric and behavioral disorders.
Services we offer
Psychiatric Diagnosis and Medication Management Clinic
- Psychiatric evaluation.
- Ongoing care for children with psychiatric disorders.
- Psychotherapy.
Psychiatric consultation for inpatients
Our child psychiatrists offer consultation to the medical teams in our hospitals at Adele Hall Campus and Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas for children who need psychiatric care. These may be single visits or consistent care while the child is in the hospital.
Most children receive ongoing care from mental health providers in their community after they go home from the hospital.
Crisis care for mental health emergencies
Children’s Mercy does not have a dedicated inpatient psychiatric unit at any of our locations. If your child needs inpatient psychiatric care, please contact your insurance company for a list of participating facilities or go to a local Emergency Department.
If you need immediate assistance, we do have social workers on our acute assessment teams who will help find appropriate care and resources for children and adolescents in crisis who come to our Emergency Department.
Visit our Mental Health Resources page for additional information.
What to expect at the Psychiatric Diagnosis and Medication Management Clinic
If you have concerns about your child’s mental or behavioral health and would like to request an appointment, you can call us at (816) 234-3674 to talk with our scheduling team. They will ask you a few questions to get a better understanding of your needs. If we are the right fit for your child’s needs, we will send you a packet of forms to fill out. When we receive your completed forms, a member of our team will call you to schedule your appointment.
Your first appointment
You can expect your initial appointment to last around 90 minutes, so you may want to have activities for your child to do while you talk with the provider. Please bring any previous test results, a list of all current medications, any previous medications tried and how your child responded to them, and your child’s Individual Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan from school, if applicable.
At the visit, the psychiatrist will review all this information, along with your child’s medical history. Depending on your child’s age, the psychiatrist may want to meet with you and your child individually if appropriate. It's helpful if both parents or primary caregivers can provide input at the appointment or through the intake forms.
Your first visit may be via telehealth (online). In that case, your child may not need to be present the entire time, but the provider will always want to connect with them and hear their perspective.
Follow-up care
Follow-up visits are generally shorter (30 to 60 minutes) and may be as often as every month or up to 6 months apart. These visits allow you to check in with your psychiatrist to review your child’s progress and make any necessary updates to their treatment plan.
The National Library of Medicine offers a medication guide and resources for families related to all kinds of health issues.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry provides information and resources for families of children with mental health concerns and developmental disabilities.
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill provides information and resources for families of children with mental health concerns and developmental disabilities.
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